DreadOut is a third-person horror game that uses mechanics similar to those found in the Fatal Frame series. The player uses modern gadgets, such as her smartphone and a digital camera, to interact with various kinds of Indonesian mythical ghosts, and to help her solve various puzzles. When Linda dies in the game, she awakens in Limbo, depicted as darkness surrounded by candles with a bright light in the distance. By running towards the light, Linda will come back to life. However, subsequent deaths will push the light further and further away from Linda, unless she manages to find three mystical items to keep the light closer to her. The game features both third and first-person control schemes, with the player navigating environments with a standard over-the-shoulder perspective. If the player decides to use their digital camera to photograph something, they enter a first-person perspective to see through Linda's equipped camera. Any ghosts that are photographed or interacted with in any way will be recorded in a "Ghostpedia" in Linda's notebook. Linda can also find articles and journal entries that describe much of the game's backstory. A recent preview video shows a tablet version of the game, where the player controls Linda via the touch screen.
Plot
When a group of senior high-school students go astray from their vacation trip in Indonesia, they discover an old deserted town. They soon realize that something sinister is about to happen. Linda Meilinda, realises something mystical is happening to her. She gains a spiritual power that could save her and her friends from the unknown.
Development
n developer Digital Happiness worked on the game using a team of around 20 people. After releasing a demo, they sought a crowd sourcing campaign via Indiegogo. The campaign asked for $25,000 USD in ending with $29,067 USD. They needed crowd sourcing since the game industry in Indonesia is small and focuses mostly on social or mobile games and were unable to find funding. Digital Happiness founder Rachmad Imron stated: “We have a lot of good human resources but most of them went abroad because there’s no game industry in Indonesia, but we hope this will change soon."
Reception
DreadOut received mixed reviews from critics, who pointed out its cliche storyline, and the poor execution of its dialogue and cutscenes. It received an average score of 51.50% on GameRankings and a weighted score of 56/100 on Metacritic. Eurogamer Italy gave it a 7/10. Eurogamer Germany gave it a 3/10. Hardcoregamer gave it a 2/5. Yahoo News gave it a 7.8 score.
Film adaptation
In 2018, Indonesian production company GoodHouse announced a film adaption of Dreadout. The film was released in Indonesia on January 3, 2019.
